Campaign “Tuesdays Against Execution”: Resistance Against Organised Death
26-May-2026
Category: Hunger Strike of Political Prisoners
26 May 2026
News Group: Hunger Strike of Political Prisoners
Breathing in Confinement: The hunger strike by political prisoners participating in the “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign has reached its 122nd week across 56 prisons nationwide.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, at a time when the right to life—the most fundamental human right—is being systematically violated, the continued wave of executions, particularly against political prisoners and in the absence of fair trials, reflects a profound crisis in justice and the rule of law. In recent weeks, the executions of individuals such as Ramin Zaleh, Karim Yaghoubpour, Abbas Akbari Feyzabadi, and others, as well as the issuance and confirmation of new death sentences for several political prisoners, have raised a serious alarm for the conscience of humanity. The “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign, now continuing in more than fifty prisons and entering its 122nd week, has become a symbol of resistance against this cycle of violence and a powerful defence of the right to life, human dignity, and justice. This statement reflects the voices of prisoners who, despite repression, deprivation, and pressure, continue to insist on the abolition of the death penalty and the realisation of fundamental human rights, while calling on the international community to stand alongside the people of Iran in stopping this inhumane process.
Full statement of the political prisoners:
Continuation of the “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign in 56 prisons in its 122nd week
The wave of political executions continues. Since last week, two political prisoners and Kurdish compatriots, Ramin Zaleh and Karim Yaghoubpour, along with another young man, Abbas Akbari Feyzabadi, one of the protesters from the January demonstrations, have been brutally executed. Another prisoner, Mojtaba Kian, was executed on charges of espionage—an accusation which, as usual, led to the execution of these compatriots without the right to a fair trial.
According to received information, at least 72 people have been executed since 20 March this year, more than 25 of whom were political-security prisoners. In addition to these cases, dozens and hundreds of unnamed prisoners in various prisons remain under death sentence.
During the past week, the death sentence of political prisoner Manouchehr Fallah in Lakan Prison in Rasht was reconfirmed following a retrial. The death sentence of Rouhollah Karki in Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, as well as the death sentences of political prisoners Milad Armoon, Navid Najjaran, Mehdi Imani, and Seyed Mohammad-Mehdi Hosseini, defendants in the so-called “Ekbatan Township” case, have also been confirmed, and their lives are in grave danger.
In response to these executions, the “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign has maintained its resistance in prisons for 122 consecutive weeks. Among them is the women’s ward of Evin Prison, where women prisoners chant slogans every Tuesday in protest against these executions. As a result, prison authorities have banned their visits and deprived them of telephone contact with their families.
Contemporary Iranian history is filled with the names of resistant and activist women who sacrificed even their lives for freedom and equality and became immortal. Particularly over the past decade, during the January 2018 uprising, November 2019 protests, the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in 2022, and the January uprising this year, women have been among the main social forces at the forefront of resistance. The movement for justice is filled with the names of women who rose up against executions and played a significant role in advancing the movement against the death penalty.
Within the “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign as well, resilient women imprisoned in various prisons have consistently raised the voice of freedom and the right to life.
For this reason, the authorities cannot even tolerate women’s voices, as misogyny has been one of the fundamental pillars of the ruling system since its inception.
During the past week, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and many human rights organisations condemned the wave of executions in Iran and called for their immediate halt. In the same context, the European Parliament also adopted a resolution condemning executions and targeted repression by the Iranian authorities, calling for decisive pressure against the government and urging states to make any political engagement with Iran conditional upon halting executions.
We, the members of the “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign, once again call on international human rights organisations and awakened consciences to take effective measures to prevent the continuation of these inhumane executions and to stand alongside the people of Iran and their demand for freedom, justice, and the abolition of the death penalty.
Members of the “Tuesdays Against Execution” campaign are on hunger strike on Tuesday, 26 May 2026, in the 122nd week, across the following 56 prisons:
Evin Prison (women’s and men’s wards), Ghezel Hesar Prison (Units 2, 3 and 4), Central Karaj Prison, Fardis Prison (Karaj), Greater Tehran Prison, Qarchak Prison, Khorin Prison (Varamin), Choobindar Prison (Qazvin), Ahar Prison, Arak Prison, Langarud Prison (Qom), Khorramabad Prison, Borujerd Prison, Yasuj Prison, Asadabad Prison (Isfahan), Dastgerd Prison (Isfahan), Sheiban Prison (Ahvaz), Sepidar Prison (Ahvaz – women’s and men’s wards), Nezam Prison (Shiraz), Adelabad Prison (Shiraz – women’s and men’s wards), Firouzabad Prison (Fars), Dehdasht Prison, Zahedan Prison (women’s and men’s wards), Borazjan Prison, Ramhormoz Prison, Behbahan Prison, Bam Prison, Yazd Prison (women’s and men’s wards), Kahnooj Prison, Tabas Prison, Central Birjand Prison, Mashhad Prison, Gorgan Prison, Sabzevar Prison, Gonbad-e Kavus Prison, Qaemshahr Prison, Rasht Prison (women’s and men’s wards), Rudsar Prison, Haviq Talesh Prison, Azbarom Lahijan Prison, Dieselabad Prison (Kermanshah), Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Salmas Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Miandoab Prison, Mahabad Prison, Bukan Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, Sanandaj Prison, Kamyaran Prison, and Ilam Prison.
Week 122
Tuesday, 26 May 2026